For 20 years, Steamboat resident Rob Douglas was a Washington, D.C. private detective specializing in homicide, political corruption and terrorism. Since 1998, Douglas has been a commentator on local, state and national politics in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Colorado. To reach Rob Douglas, email rdouglas@SteamboatToday.com.

Rob Douglas

Lately, given the economic headwinds and increased sniping from a small but vocal group of rabble-rousers seeking to derail any construction in the Yampa Valley, I find myself pulling for the development community to succeed against the odds.

Unfortunately, some of our un-neighborly neighbors in Routt County believe it is their role to assault developers, builders and Realtors verbally and in writing at every opportunity.

Amazingly, these malcontents fire their cheap shots in spite of the hypocrisy of their living on land and prospering from homes and businesses made possible by the very development they loudly protest.

The oft-repeated mantra of these community connivers is this: "Now that I've got my slice of paradise, no one else can live here unless I say so!"

These selfish souls profess that "developers" are performing Satan's handiwork right up until the day arrives when they cut their own deal with the devil to sell or develop their property in search of heavenly dollars. But until they cash in, the word developer is spat from their lips awash in condescending vulgarity.

Case in point.

Last Sunday, the Steamboat Pilot & Today reported that Kim and Peter Kreissig have placed Rollingstone Village - an approved but not yet constructed development off Pine Grove Road - back on the market. As Peter told the Pilot, "We have carried Rollingstone since 2007. Given market conditions, we have no immediate plan to commence building. We can technically continue to carry the land, but with the market rebounding slowly, it just doesn't make good business sense for us to wait it out."

The Kreissigs paid $5.75 million for the property in 2007 and now are asking $6.9 million, which, according to the Kreissigs, will be a loss after deducting costs incurred to date.

The article was greeted on the Pilot's Web forum by the usual real estate development haters spewing their typically shallow insights: "Sounds like all the rest of them. Atira, Timbers, Green Court (sic), 700, 360, Wildhorse. Wanna take bets on who goes down first." "That sure was a commitment. Another fair weather developer bites the dust. $2 1/5 million profit in less than two years? Not too shabby."

When Fred Duckels rose in defense of builders, writing, "You guys had better start rooting for these people," he was met with, "I root for smart people not greedy ones."

But then something I've been waiting a long time for happened. The "greedy, fair-weather developer" decided enough was enough and stood up for her family's business.

Not only did Kim Kreissig confront the know-nothing know-it-alls, she challenged them, writing, "If you are honestly interested in the facts behind our sale of Rollingstone, please call me on my cell phone. : I'll happily share our financials with you and help you understand the numbers involved in bringing a project such as Rollingstone Village to fruition."

Kreissig also wrote that she and her husband operate a small local development firm that, since 1994, has employed local workers and takes pride in the homes they build. In other words, they're invested in this community as a family, as a local developer and as an employer providing opportunities for others to live in our community.

What Kim didn't say, but I will, is that contrary to being "greedy, fair-weather developers," the Kreissigs are no different than many others in the valley who found a place they love and someone to love as they work hard to create a legacy for their family and their community.

Peter started laying tile for other builders in the valley more than 20 years ago, and Kim arrived 18 years ago. They met, married and planted their roots firmly by starting a family. By combining their skills and working hard, the Kreissigs have built a business that they are proud of.

And, contrary to the naysayer-proffered picture of a greedy couple sitting at a desk salivating over stacks of cash, had you wanted to talk to Peter on Thursday afternoon, you'd have found him operating a backhoe while digging a new foundation at Rocky Peak Village - another project the family hopes to make succeed in this most difficult of times.

One last point.

Remember Kim's challenge to the naysayers to call and go over the facts?

Comments

Well said Rob. The Kreissigs are great people that have worked very hard in the Valley. They are just one example of the great people that work in the development, construction and real estate industry. Are there a few that don't live up to this standard, yes but as a group they make our community stronger by giving their time and energy to many deserving causes. I don't believe the same can be said for the vocal few that believe they have to demonize and degrade our neighbors because they are above what could otherwise be a healthy discussion among community members as to the best direction for the future.

Thank you for calling out those that can't treat others with respect and feel they can only win by demonizing others.

About a month ago the Community Alliance had a column in this publication touting the necessity of affordable housing.
Last week some of it's members showed up at the 700 city council meeting, to attempt to put a dagger into the heart of this project. I thought that this was exactly what they have been championing for so many years. Affordable housing has been a staple for this group, and now it seems that it no longer matters.
This can only mean one thing, they have been using this tactic as a tool to control development as they see fit. In my opinion they are losing credibility, by the use of expediency.
I am not a big fan of growth but we must follow the rules or change them, not use tactics such as this to circumvent them.
Every development has the affordable housing hurdle that extracts a social fee as a deterrent to growth. If that were not true the 700 project would be a dream come true.

Hey Rob. I've yet to hear one intelligent comment about how to solve the traffic problem from the 700 club development . including from you, or anybody else. Where do you live ?? I live west of town and the light by the 7-eleven backs up all the way to Steamboat 2 in the morning....hello...I'm not against affordable housing I'm against a stupid planning commision and out-of-town developers that don't care. I've lived here since 1972 and developers come and go like the weather around here. So I challenge you to write one intelligent piece on the traffic issue that the 700 club development will cause if they go through with it....do you even know how many more cars are going to try to get past that light ??? well let's see if you come up with anything that makes sense. The other thing I've seen around here is planning commisioners that come and go like the weather. They typically act like sub-contractors and just figure the next guy will fix it....then it's too late

Rob is correct about those rude comments posted on the Pilot forum against the Kreissig project. I enjoyed Kim's posted response, and the lack of rebuttal to her reply. Well put, Kim.

But Rob simply expresses his own bias when he credits such behavior to those on one side of this, or any issue. Pilot forum insults run both ways, and Rob knows it.

This forum too often represents the worst of Steamboat. In the entirety of my Steamboat experience, anonymous people posting insults at real people ranks ranks at the very bottom. I used to post here a lot, but I realized I never saw anyone's mind changed on any topic, and I have to say I got tired of "conversing" with invisible people. Thanks to those of you who post with your real name.

Fred,
As a member of Community Alliance who attended the past City Council meetings, I have to say your post is hard to understand. Were you there? Kim's project wasn't even on the agenda.

Could you be more specific with your complaint against Community Alliance? As currently phrased it makes no sense - its a baseless complaint. Are you refering to SB700? We meet with Danny Mulcahy on a regular basis to constructively discuss many aspects of his project, including affordable housing. I had a brief talk with Danny about their housing plan after Tuesday's meeting.

I think its fair to say the Community Alliance understands the relation of SB700 to affordability in this vally, and works hard to maintain a responsible dialogue on the many details of SB700.

But its not a slam dunk that any development helps housing, as you imply Fred. Average home costs of $650K at SB700 may mean the vast majority of their free market units are still out of reach for our workforce. As I posted last week, we are very interested to see what (Metro district and total) tax burdens those future buyers will be paying. Perhaps you agree with some of us should care enough to pay attention to these details?

Freerider,
The 700 is paying and will contribute to the highway improvements up to 13th street from the west. I am working with a group to provide an alternate route around town. We are working with the CofC transportation group to possibly form an RTD, to finance many transportation projects. I think that we may finally be gaining some ground in this area, although it has not been easy. The present highway won't handle existing traffic, let alone an extra two lanes. We must stop passing the buck and face reality, which should have been done a long time ago.

Steve,
I was commenting on the 700 and all the extra costs that everyone seems to think should be put on their shoulders. This is the stake in the heart that I was alluding to. From the start this seemed like a social engineers dream, and I knew that there would be some dissapointment, at how much this project would be able to contribute. I took the attitude at the last meeting as a death sentence for this project. If we want the 700, we will find that they are probably out of sugar.

First of all I would have never read your post had Fred not have mentioned you. I make a point to never reed the unanimous posts.

Having said that I can't let your comments about Planning commissioners slide.

"I'm against a stupid planning commision and out-of-town developers that don't care"

If there is one thing that all past, present and future Planning Commissioners have in common is that they all care. In fact they care so much that they are willing to spend countless ours on your behalf discussing the state of our community.

Also please remember it is a public process and your welcome and encouraged to share your thoughts at each and every meeting.

Well put Cedar. Its been bizarre to sit in Centennial Hall meetings and witness SO LITTLE public comment. Make that NO COMMENT from the posters in this forum.

Having re-read Rob's article, I note he's based it all on anonymous postings even I take issue with. Your column is baseless isn't it Rob, when we talk about what real people have had to say about developers.